Planning Manager

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a Planning Manager to join a successful food manufacturing business based in Suffolk.

Reporting relationships - • Reporting directly to the Group General Manager• Site Planner and Planning Administrator reports into this role

Accountabilities • Work in close partnership with sales, customers & operations to provide a daily & weekly production plan that maximises factory efficiency (e.g. minimizing changeovers and over pack and delivers customer orders on time and in full• Working in close partnership with, agriculture, sales & operations to build long term (3 month out) plans based around customer insight, promotional plans & operational capacity for production• Work in close partnership with the SOPS team, to communicate site position on a daily / weekly basis to ensure full carcass utilization and maximizing group efficiencies• To act as a key liaison point between operations, sales & customers communicating production vs plan and formulating an appropriate response to address fluctuations in production and/or orders; e.g. saying yes or no to whether orders can be fulfilled• To ensure that the site is legally & contractually compliant in all areas and to actively promote hygiene & health & safety, immediately halting any un-safe working practice & taking appropriate action to remedy• Review & develop your direct reports & team to improve their performance against standards & targets, ensuring that both site and all personnel are equipped to deliver against all expectations• Ensure that all employees are aware of their roles/accountabilities, that training is provided to meet these and that 1Stop Halal employment & communication policies are complied with• Communicate, liaise & escalate issues with the Group General Manager, colleagues and external service providers where necessary• Ensure that the site achieves and maintains the targeted level of accreditation through customer/legal auditing processes• Review & develop the planning processes & policies in conjunction with the senior management teams in operations & sales in order to drive continuous improvement

Skills Required - • Experience of building production plans with products with short shelf life products and requiring intensive labour usage• Demonstrable excellence in managing the different needs of customers, operations & sales in a very fast paced environment & building & communicating effective solutions• Proven experience of successfully managing a team including performance management, conduct, adherence to company policies & procedure including disciplinary, grievance & attendance issues• Ability to clearly communicate & build a strong & effective team• Self motivated and highly resilient• High level of IT skills and implementing new IT systems• FMCG experience• Lean Manufacturing experience preferred • Ideally experience of a demanding retail or similar customer base